VA - 100 Popcorn Classics [2009] (5 x CD's)

POPCORN

VA - 100 Popcorn Classics [2009] (5 x CD's)

Popcorn (sometimes Belgian popcorn or oldies popcorn) is a style of music and dancing first established in Belgium in the 1970's and 1980's. The style includes a wide variety of mostly American and British recordings of pop-soul music made between the late 1950's and mid 1960's, often relatively obscure, and characterized by a slow or medium, rather than fast, tempo. The style has been described by musician and writer Bob Stanley as "possibly the last truly underground music scene in Europe."

According to Stanley, "the purity of Belgian Popcorn is its very impurity. R&B, Broadway numbers, tangos, Phil Spector-esque girl groups and loungey instrumentals, they are all constituent parts of a rare, and still largely undiscovered scene." By the 1990's, the Popcorn dance scene retained a core of aficionados even outside Belgium, having a level of recognition in venues and specialist clubs in Britain, Germany, and the US, with at least 30 compilations of American R&B and pop music in the Belgian Popcorn style being re-issued in Europe. 

The Popcorn music scene first developed from dances held at the Groove discotheque in Ostend, where mid-tempo soul and ska music played by DJ Freddy Cousaert became popular in the late 1960's. Cousaert was later responsible for Marvin Gaye's move to Belgium in the early 1980's.  In September 1969, a café, De Oude Hoeve, opened in a converted farm barn at Vrasene near Antwerp, and began holding dance competitions on Sunday afternoons. Soon up to 3,000 people began attending each week, dancing in a "slow swing" style to soul and funk records. The café was renamed the Popcorn – after the James Brown hit "The Popcorn"—and DJ Gilbert Govaert began playing more early soul and other records from the 1960's to suit the dance style. According to Stanley: "The beat was slow and slightly rickety, martial drums rolled under melancholy minor chords—the Marvelettes' 'Please Mr Postman' (1961) would have been typical."  Following the Popcorn club's popularity, other clubs sprang up playing music in a similar style. These included the Festival in Antwerp, the Gatsby in Vliermaal, and the Versailles, beside the beach at Ostend. As well as Cousaert and Govaert, other leading DJs included Jeff Callebaut, Gerry Franken, and Georges Toniotti. Radio stations were set up to play the music, and rare music on obscure labels became especially prized. The scene in Belgium, in many ways, paralleled the Northern soul scene in Britain, but with a slower swing style of music favoured, rather than the fast dance styles characteristic of Northern soul. In some cases, DJs slowed down records, by pitch control and by playing 45 rpm discs at 33 rpm, to achieve the desired tempo and rhythm. The range of the music also broadened, to include some British and Italian pop music from the early 1960's, and eventually local bands were formed to emulate the style. (Wikipedia)

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Track lists

CD1

01 Edwin Starr Stop Her On The Sight (S.O.S.) 2:18

02 Gene Chandler Everybody Let's Dance 2:17

03 Martha Reeves And The Vandellas Jimmy Mack 2:51

04 Supremes Baby Love 2:35

05 Cliff Richard Angel 2:17

06 Sam Cooke Everybody Loves The Cha Cha Cha 2:41

07 Paul Anka Dance On Little Girl 2:18

08 Helen Shapiro Look Who It Is 2:13

09 Chubby Checker You Better Believe It Baby 2:10

10 Gene Mcdaniels Hundred Pounds Of Clay 2:19

11 Steve Lawrence Only Love Me 2:42

12 Trini Lopez Corazon De Melon 4:06

13 Chris Montez The More I See You 2:39

14 Georgia Gibbs Keep In Touch 2:04

15 Major Lance Crying In The Rain 2:22

16 Betty Everett You're No Good 2:15

17 Dave 'baby' Cortez Summertime Cha Cha 1:54

18 Bobby Moore & The Rhythm Aces Mr. Dj 2:50

19 Walter Jackson Then Only Then 2:21

20 Jo Ann Campbell A Kookie Little Paradise 2:24

CD2

01 Peggy March I Will Follow Him 2:25

02 Yvonne Carroll Please Don't Go 2:06

03 Mitty Collier Pain 2:22

04 Titus Turner Bla Bla Bla Cha Cha 2:15

05 Nolan Chance If He Makes You 2:13

06 Millie My Boy Lollipop 2:03

07 Lesley Gore It's My Party 2:13

08 Petula Clark Baby Lover 2:25

09 Emile Ford & The Checkmates Question 2:25

10 Ricky Nelson The Very Thought Of You 1:54

11 Champs Ali Baba 2:26

12 Marketts Bella Dalena 2:12

13 San Remo Golden Strings Hungry For Love 2:55

14 Ramsey Lewis China Gate 2:34

15 El Chicano Viva Tirado 4:40

16 Jimmy Hughes My Loving Time 1:48

17 Mary Wells You Beat Me To The Punch 2:43

18 Debbie Dovale Hey Hey Lover 2:05

19 Lucky Clark Let Me Be The Fool 2:41

20 Little Willie John Fever 2:40

CD3

01 Sam Cooke Chain Gang 2:33

02 Cliff Richard Just Another Guy 2:06

03 Clovers Love Potion No. 9 1:54

04 Gene Mcdaniels Tower Of Strenght 2:18

05 Terry Stafford I'll Touch A Star 2:21

06 Major Lance Rhythm 2:20

07 Impressions Twist And Limbo 2:29

08 Terry Allen In The First Place 2:12

09 Chris Montez There Will Never Be Another You 2:51

10 Dee Clark Nobody But You 2:25

11 Babs Tino Forgive Me 2:11

12 Earl Grant Fever 3:10

13 Jerry Jackson Always 2:48

14 Clyde Mcphatter China Town 2:18

15 Burt Blanca Tout En Fumee 2:13

16 Gene Chandler A Song Called Soul 2:37

17 Walter Jackson This World Of Mine 2:15

18 Four Tops I Can't Help Myself (Suger Pie, Honey Bunch) 2:40

19 Supremes Come See About Me 2:40

20 Martha Reeves And The Vandellas Dancing In The Street 2:36

CD4

01 Betty Everett The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) 2:11

02 Dorothy Berry You Better Watch Out 2:03

03 Ricky Nelson For Your Sweet Love 2:15

04 Gene Mcdaniels It's A Lonely Town 2:35

05 Labrenda Ben & The Beljeans The Chaperone 2:52

06 Clyde Mcphatter Ta Ta 2:12

07 Billy Butler You Ain't Ready 2:24

08 Temptations Ain't Too Proud To Beg 2:31

09 Supremes Honey Babe 2:30

10 Gale Garnett I'll Cry Alone 2:07

11 Mary Wells My Guy 2:48

12 Edward Holland, Jr. Jamie 2:21

13 Gene Chandler Pretty Little Girl 2:06

14 Jimmy Beaumont There's No Other Love 2:10

15 Billy Stewart Summertime 2:40

16 Earl Grant Stand By Me 2:08

17 Brenda Holloway Operator 3:15

18 Jimmy Hughes Lovely Ladies 2:20

19 Mcguire Sisters Banana Split 2:20

20 Fontella Bass Rescue Me 2:53

CD5

01 Jimmy Frey Yet I Know 2:30

02 Shake Spears Summertime 2:19

03 Plato Copycat 2:32

04 Little Hank & The Rhythm Kings Mr. Bang Bang Man 2:37

05 Tommy Neal Going To A Happening 2:32

06 Herb Hardesty Just A Little Bit Of Everything 2:43

07 Turbo Jets Far East Cha Cha Cha 2:34

08 Johnnie Taylor Blues In The Night 3:10

09 Skatalites Freedom Sounds 3:49

10 Clyde Otis Jungle Drums 1:56

11 Michel Legrand Di-Gue-Ding-Ding 2:45

12 Ramsey Lewis Trio Wade In The Water 3:47

13 Marvin Jenkins I've Got The Blues 2:04

14 Chris Montez Because Of You 2:25

15 San Remo Golden Strings I'm Satisfied 2:07

16 Sammy Davis Jr. That Old Black Magic 2:53

17 Temptations The Way You Do The Things You Do 2:39

18 Major Lance It's The Beat 2:28

19 Platters My Heart Belongs To Daddy 2:03

20 Dean Barlow Third Window From The Right 2:28

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